True Friends Game*

True Friends™ is an educational board game designed to give maturing kids the knowledge and skills they need to successfully navigate the world of cliques, shifting relationships, and (for older players only) the beginning of interest in the opposite sex. Players learn how to be a true friend, to resist negative peer pressure from friends and other classmates, and to strive to be themselves instead of trying to fit the unrealistic cookie cutter mold of the “popular” girl or guy. As players strategize their routes to True Friends Island, they navigate through dangerous waters that surround a series of islands representing the challenges that they face (Popularity and Pressure Island, Friendship Ups and Downs Island, etc.). Bad luck takes you to Castaway Island. The game has two complete sets of cards – one for grades 3 and 4, and one for grades 5 and 6. The cards for the older students also deal with girl-guy issues.

Younger players pick from the Making Friends deck, the Popularity and Pressure deck, and the Friendship Ups and Downs deck. Older players pick from the Popularity and Pressure deck, the Friendship Ups and Downs deck, and the Girls and Guys deck, which deals with parties, dating, and male and female stereotypes.

There are three kinds of questions: For True-False questions players answer “true” or “false” and earn extra points for giving an explanation. For Rate the Action questions, players rate a fictitious student’s reaction to a difficult situation as “good”, “fair”, or “poor”. Then they earn extra points by giving an explanation and, if the action was fair or poor, say what they would do instead. For Open-Ended questions, players give an answer and sometimes act out a good solution to the situation.

Playing time: Flexible - from 35 minutes to 60 minutes

Grades 3 – 6

Learning Objectives - Players:

Learn specific actions they can take to make new friends and be a good friend.

Learn specific actions that they can take to resolve differences with peers.

Learn how to treat friends with respect.

Learn the responsibilities of friendship.

Learn how to deal with peer pressure and the “need” to be popular.

(for older players) Learn the challenges of entering the world of dating and how to treat others with respect and consideration.